Founded by Sir Joseph Joel Duveen and his brother Henry in the late 1860s, the Duveen Brothers firm was active in London, Paris, and New York for more than 100 years. Sir Joseph Joel's son, also known as Sir Joseph, brought the firm to prominence in the first half of the 20th century and gained international fame for selling European Old Master paintings, antique furnishings, and other objets d'art to American collectors for record prices.

The Research Institute's collection of Duveen Brothers resources chronicles this important period in American collecting history and is a rich aid for scholars, especially those involved in provenance research and the history of collecting.

The Kress Foundation grant contributes to the costs of digitizing these collections, which include more than 400 reels of microfilm and 634 linear feet of archival materials.